News and Notes by Date
listings 1-5 of 5
April 2021
04-20-2021
A growing body of evidence suggests that biodiversity loss increases exposure to both new and established zoonotic pathogens. Restoring and protecting nature is essential to preventing future pandemics.
So reports a new Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper that synthesizes current understanding about how biodiversity affects human health and provides recommendations for future research to guide management. The research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Lead author Felicia Keesing of Bard College and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies says, "There's a persistent myth that wild areas with high levels of biodiversity are hotspots for disease. More animal diversity must equal more dangerous pathogens. But that turns out to be wrong. Biodiversity isn't a threat to us; it's actually protecting us from the species most likely to make us sick."
So reports a new Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper that synthesizes current understanding about how biodiversity affects human health and provides recommendations for future research to guide management. The research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Lead author Felicia Keesing of Bard College and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies says, "There's a persistent myth that wild areas with high levels of biodiversity are hotspots for disease. More animal diversity must equal more dangerous pathogens. But that turns out to be wrong. Biodiversity isn't a threat to us; it's actually protecting us from the species most likely to make us sick."
Photo: Credit: NSF/Nicole Rager-Fuller
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
04-13-2021
A growing body of evidence suggests that biodiversity loss increases our exposure to both new and established zoonotic pathogens. Restoring and protecting nature is essential to preventing future pandemics. So reports a new Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) paper that synthesizes current understanding about how biodiversity affects human health and provides recommendations for future research to guide management. To read the PNAS paper, please click here.
Lead author Felicia Keesing is a professor at Bard College and a Visiting Scientist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She explains, “There's a persistent myth that wild areas with high levels of biodiversity are hotspots for disease. More animal diversity must equal more dangerous pathogens. But this turns out to be wrong. Biodiversity isn't a threat to us, it’s actually protecting us from the species most likely to make us sick.”
Zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, SARS, and Ebola are caused by pathogens that are shared between humans and other vertebrate animals. But animal species differ in their ability to pass along pathogens that make us sick.
Rick Ostfeld is a disease ecologist at Cary Institute and a co-author on the paper. He explains, “Research is mounting that species that thrive in developed and degraded landscapes are often much more efficient at harboring pathogens and transmitting them to people. In less-disturbed landscapes with more animal diversity, these risky reservoirs are less abundant and biodiversity has a protective effect.”
Rodents, bats, primates, cloven-hooved mammals like sheep and deer, and carnivores have been flagged as the mammal taxa most likely to transmit pathogens to humans. Keesing and Ostfeld note, "The next emerging pathogen is far more likely to come from a rat than a rhino.”
This is because animals with fast life histories tend to be more efficient at transmitting pathogens. Keesing explains, “Animals that live fast, die young, and have early sexual maturity with lots of offspring tend to invest less in their adaptive immune responses. They are often better at transmitting diseases, compared to longer-lived animals with stronger adaptive immunity.”
When biodiversity is lost from ecological communities, long-lived, larger-bodied species tend to disappear first, while smaller-bodied species with fast life histories tend to proliferate. Research has found that mammal hosts of zoonotic viruses are less likely to be species of conservation concern (i.e. they are more common), and that for both mammals and birds, human development tends to increase the abundance of zoonotic host species, bringing people and risky animals closer together.
“When we erode biodiversity, we favor species that are more likely to be zoonotic hosts, increasing our risk of spillover events,” Ostfeld notes. Adding that, “Managing this risk will require a better understanding of how things like habitat conversion, climate change, and overharvesting affect zoonotic hosts, and how restoring biodiversity to degraded areas might reduce their abundance.”
To predict and prevent spillover, Keesing and Ostfeld highlight the need to focus on host attributes associated with disease transmission rather than continuing to debate the prime importance of one taxon or another. Ostfeld explains, “We should stop assuming that there is a single animal source for each emerging pathogen. The pathogens that jump from animals to people tend to be found in many animal species, not just one. They’re jumpers, after all, and they typically move between species readily.”
Disentangling the characteristics of effective zoonotic hosts – such as their immune strategies, resilience to disturbance, and habitat preferences – is key to protecting public health. Forecasting the locations where these species thrive, and where pathogen transmission and emergence are likely, can guide targeted interventions.
Keesing notes, “Restoration of biodiversity is an important frontier in the management of zoonotic disease risk. Those pathogens that do spill over to infect humans—zoonotic pathogens—often proliferate as a result of human impacts.” Concluding, “As we rebuild our communities after COVID-19, we need to have firmly in mind that one of our best strategies to prevent future pandemics is to protect, preserve, and restore biodiversity.”
This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Grant OPUS 1948419 to Keesing.
Felicia Keesing, David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, has been on the Bard faculty since 2000. She has a B.S. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Since 1995, she has studied how African savannas function when the large, charismatic animals like elephants, buffaloes, zebras, and giraffes disappear. She also studies how interactions among species influence the probability that humans will be exposed to infectious diseases. Keesing also studies Lyme disease, another tick-borne disease. She is particularly interested in how species diversity affects disease transmission. More recently, she has focused on science literacy for college students, and she led the re-design of Bard College’s Citizen Science program. Keesing has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, among others. She has been awarded the United States Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2000). She is the coeditor of Infectious Disease Ecology: Effects of Ecosystems on Disease and of Disease on Ecosystems (2008) and has contributed to such publications as Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology Letters, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Ecology, BioScience, Conservation Biology, and Trends in Ecology & Evolution, among others.
Lead author Felicia Keesing is a professor at Bard College and a Visiting Scientist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She explains, “There's a persistent myth that wild areas with high levels of biodiversity are hotspots for disease. More animal diversity must equal more dangerous pathogens. But this turns out to be wrong. Biodiversity isn't a threat to us, it’s actually protecting us from the species most likely to make us sick.”
Zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, SARS, and Ebola are caused by pathogens that are shared between humans and other vertebrate animals. But animal species differ in their ability to pass along pathogens that make us sick.
Rick Ostfeld is a disease ecologist at Cary Institute and a co-author on the paper. He explains, “Research is mounting that species that thrive in developed and degraded landscapes are often much more efficient at harboring pathogens and transmitting them to people. In less-disturbed landscapes with more animal diversity, these risky reservoirs are less abundant and biodiversity has a protective effect.”
Rodents, bats, primates, cloven-hooved mammals like sheep and deer, and carnivores have been flagged as the mammal taxa most likely to transmit pathogens to humans. Keesing and Ostfeld note, "The next emerging pathogen is far more likely to come from a rat than a rhino.”
This is because animals with fast life histories tend to be more efficient at transmitting pathogens. Keesing explains, “Animals that live fast, die young, and have early sexual maturity with lots of offspring tend to invest less in their adaptive immune responses. They are often better at transmitting diseases, compared to longer-lived animals with stronger adaptive immunity.”
When biodiversity is lost from ecological communities, long-lived, larger-bodied species tend to disappear first, while smaller-bodied species with fast life histories tend to proliferate. Research has found that mammal hosts of zoonotic viruses are less likely to be species of conservation concern (i.e. they are more common), and that for both mammals and birds, human development tends to increase the abundance of zoonotic host species, bringing people and risky animals closer together.
“When we erode biodiversity, we favor species that are more likely to be zoonotic hosts, increasing our risk of spillover events,” Ostfeld notes. Adding that, “Managing this risk will require a better understanding of how things like habitat conversion, climate change, and overharvesting affect zoonotic hosts, and how restoring biodiversity to degraded areas might reduce their abundance.”
To predict and prevent spillover, Keesing and Ostfeld highlight the need to focus on host attributes associated with disease transmission rather than continuing to debate the prime importance of one taxon or another. Ostfeld explains, “We should stop assuming that there is a single animal source for each emerging pathogen. The pathogens that jump from animals to people tend to be found in many animal species, not just one. They’re jumpers, after all, and they typically move between species readily.”
Disentangling the characteristics of effective zoonotic hosts – such as their immune strategies, resilience to disturbance, and habitat preferences – is key to protecting public health. Forecasting the locations where these species thrive, and where pathogen transmission and emergence are likely, can guide targeted interventions.
Keesing notes, “Restoration of biodiversity is an important frontier in the management of zoonotic disease risk. Those pathogens that do spill over to infect humans—zoonotic pathogens—often proliferate as a result of human impacts.” Concluding, “As we rebuild our communities after COVID-19, we need to have firmly in mind that one of our best strategies to prevent future pandemics is to protect, preserve, and restore biodiversity.”
This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Grant OPUS 1948419 to Keesing.
Felicia Keesing, David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, has been on the Bard faculty since 2000. She has a B.S. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Since 1995, she has studied how African savannas function when the large, charismatic animals like elephants, buffaloes, zebras, and giraffes disappear. She also studies how interactions among species influence the probability that humans will be exposed to infectious diseases. Keesing also studies Lyme disease, another tick-borne disease. She is particularly interested in how species diversity affects disease transmission. More recently, she has focused on science literacy for college students, and she led the re-design of Bard College’s Citizen Science program. Keesing has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, among others. She has been awarded the United States Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2000). She is the coeditor of Infectious Disease Ecology: Effects of Ecosystems on Disease and of Disease on Ecosystems (2008) and has contributed to such publications as Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology Letters, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Ecology, BioScience, Conservation Biology, and Trends in Ecology & Evolution, among others.
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(4.5.21)
Photo: Bard Biology Professor Felicia Keesing doing fieldwork on tick-borne diseases in the Laikipia District of Kenya
Meta: Type(s): Article,Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Faculty | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Article,Faculty | Subject(s): Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Faculty | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
04-11-2021
“Somewhere in the nook of downtown Los Angeles’ urban hellscape, Adam Baz is eloquently flying his hawk companion amidst the nuisance of blaring sirens, clamorous humans, and of course the universally dreaded pests—pigeons,” writes Joshen Mantai for Flaunt. The 35-year-old falconer, bird biologist, and Bard alum has crafted a rare career in the city as a bird abatement specialist and falconry educator.
Photo: Bard Biology Professor Felicia Keesing doing fieldwork on tick-borne diseases in the Laikipia District of Kenya
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Division of Science, Math, and Computing | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
04-06-2021
According to a new study, gender prototypes influence the way people perceive and react to sexual harassment toward women. The study, by a team of researchers led by Bard alum Jin X. Goh ’12, found that sexual harassment claims are perceived as less credible and the acts as less harmful when the victims are nonprototypical women compared to women with more feminine features. “These findings are disconcerting,” say the researchers, “because determining that sexual harassment has occurred is a crucial first step in reporting the harassment, holding the perpetrator accountable, and supporting the victim.” The findings were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Meta: Type(s): Alumni,Article | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Psychology Program | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni,Article | Subject(s): Division of Science, Math, and Computing,Psychology Program | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
04-06-2021
How do we become a complex, integrated multicellular organism from a single cell? In a new study led by postdoctoral scholar Camila Lopez-Anido, researchers used RNA sequencing to track nearly 20,000 individual cells as they coordinated to build a leaf. Through this highly detailed process — visualized by Camila’s sister, artist and Bard alum Virginia Lopez-Anido ’15 — the researchers captured transient and rare cell states, and found a surprising abundance of ambiguity in how cells traversed various identities.
“As we think about flexibility and resilience in the face of a changing world, we want to learn more about how organisms can manage to build functional bodies when they are under stress or exposed to extreme environments," says Lopez-Anido. “This requires research with organisms that have flexible and tunable lifestyles, such as the plants we study.”
As part of a family of artists, Lopez-Anido also embraced a uniquely artistic perspective to interpret and share this research, using a pointillism-inspired analysis software to visualize her massive dataset and engaging her sister Virginia to create artwork inspired by Camila’s research.
“I like to engage with artists and scholars across disciplines because it can bring new layers of meaning to science—and make science more accessible, which is very important to me," says Camila, who has taught scientific literacy at Bard College through its Citizen Science program and will soon begin work as an assistant professor of biology at Reed College. “I'm looking forward to fostering more of these meaningful research experiences and collaborations for my mentees.”
“As we think about flexibility and resilience in the face of a changing world, we want to learn more about how organisms can manage to build functional bodies when they are under stress or exposed to extreme environments," says Lopez-Anido. “This requires research with organisms that have flexible and tunable lifestyles, such as the plants we study.”
As part of a family of artists, Lopez-Anido also embraced a uniquely artistic perspective to interpret and share this research, using a pointillism-inspired analysis software to visualize her massive dataset and engaging her sister Virginia to create artwork inspired by Camila’s research.
“I like to engage with artists and scholars across disciplines because it can bring new layers of meaning to science—and make science more accessible, which is very important to me," says Camila, who has taught scientific literacy at Bard College through its Citizen Science program and will soon begin work as an assistant professor of biology at Reed College. “I'm looking forward to fostering more of these meaningful research experiences and collaborations for my mentees.”
Photo: Detail of a drawing series by artist Virginia Lopez-Anido ’15 that was inspired by research by her sister, Camila Lopez-Anido, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford who studies cellular development in plants.
Meta: Type(s): Alumni,Article | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
Meta: Type(s): Alumni,Article | Subject(s): Bardians at Work,Biology Program,Division of Science, Math, and Computing | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs |
listings 1-5 of 5